give it away

What does it mean?

Young children rarely think of their art as personal property. Often they throw it away or give it away. This suggests that much of the value of art for a child consists in making it. Interestingly, art in tribal societies is frequently abandoned after it has served its purpose. The focus is on the magical, expressive, and social value of the act of making. Some contemporary artists share this feeling, but they are also caught up in the system of art exhibition, the selling of their art, and the requirements of an art market. This results in a tension in the art world that is largely unresolved ? the tension between art as a satisfying mode of expression and art as a precious collectible object, between the experience of making and the experience of owning.